Best Buy Sucks at Customer Service
The letters below say it all – in response to my first letter, I was basically told “too bad, we had an ad – but thanks for your input”… If a company like Best Buy doesn’t control the representations of their employees, I have no idea what I, as a consumer, can do besides bluster. I suppose I need to get the name of every employee of whom I might ask a question… I’ve spent a lot of money at BB over the years, but unlike a neighborhood mom’n’pop, there is no way they can truly appreciate these things. I doubt there’s much that can be done, but I am hoping… thanks
W Gregory Stewart
248 N. Saltair Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Best Buy
Corporate Customer Care
P.O. Box 949
Minneapolis, MN 55440
Oct. 28, 2006
To whom it may concern:
This is a complaint about deceptive practices and failure to address customer concerns.
On September 6 of this year, while shopping at a local Best Buy (11301 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA), my son saw a “Pre-Order†package for a game, 2142 Battlefield. Since it had a $10 price tag, he approached a sales associate and inquired if this was a full price or a deposit. He was told it was the full price. I stepped in to make sure – “so once we pay the $10, that’s going to be it? There’s nothing else we’d have to pay? It’s really the full price?â€
The associate looked at the box carefully and told us, “No, that’s the full price.â€
BASED ON THAT, we decide to purchase the item; we were told it would be available on October 17. It was not, which led to a fruitless trip to pick it up, but 2 days later, the item was in, and we went to pick it up.
Imagine our surprise to be told that what we had previously paid had indeed been just a deposit. If this had been an item I was purchasing for myself, I would have asked for my money back – but it was pointed out that we were past the refund period anyway, as incredible as that seems. Choosing not to disappoint my son – who had been eagerly awaiting the release of the game, and who was pleased with himself for having made such a seemingly good buy – I purchased the item, determining then to write this letter of complaint. (Since I was not able to speak with the manager, having received only his card – and not even his card, since his name (Rick Palese) was handwritten on it – this seems to be my only recourse.)
WHEN A CUSTOMER ASKS A POINT BLANK QUESTION about the nature of a purchase and receives such misinformation, one can only believe that there is fraud afoot, or incompetence – or both. Regardless, if BestBuy does not train OR stand behind their employees, they should post signs saying “Notice, question-askers – we may not tell you the truth, and we don’t care!â€
This is not an appropriate way to do business. I have been informed that the sales associate responsible for the deception can be identified by the number 0374930 – when I asked if that was the person at the cash register, or the person who gave us the bad information, I was told the latter, but of course I have no way of knowing what’s true at Best Buy anymore.
An ironic side note – as I stood in line waiting to not talk to the manager, someone beside me was complaining to an employee that someone had sold her a $100 worth of software she didn’t need, since it was already on the computer.
A pattern begins to emerge….
PLEASE NOTE that after originally writing this letter, I decided to fax a synopsis to Mr Palese (using the fax before mailing it out, just in case he remained ignorant of what was going on, with an invitation to call us to put things right. Nearly a week has gone by and no contact has been made – I can only assume that he has no interest in how his customers feel.
Angrily,
W Gregory Stewart
Cc:
Rick Palese
11301 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Best Buy Co., Inc. Attorney General’s Office
Corporate Headquarters California Department of Justice
P.O. Box 9312 Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9312 P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Better Business Bureau of the Southland Consumer Protection Division
315 North La Cadena Drive Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office
Colton, CA 92324 201 North Figueroa St., Suite 1600
Los Angeles, CA 90012
November 11, 2006
Steve Taylor
Best Buy Customer Care
POBox 9312
Minneapolis MN 55440-9312
Steve Taylor,
So let me see if I have this straight.
A father and son come in to look at CDs (in this case). Wandering through the store, the son sees an item with a price that seems like a VERY good deal and asks a question of a sales associate to see if in fact it is what it sounds like.
From your response, it seems that I am now to understand there is no point in asking questions and that it is incumbent upon any potential Best Buy customer to go out, obtain a copy every local paper in a three-city area, and look exhaustively through each for Best Buy ads before making any decision to purchase any item, just in case there is information about that item in any of those ads – AND THAT IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR YOUR SALES ASSOCIATES to already be familiar with the specific of any such ads, and that additionally those associates cannot be trusted to provide accurate answers?
Such a policy really needs to be made clear to anyone entering your store, don’t you think? Possibly a sign that says “Best Buy takes no responsibility for anything their employees might tell you. No responsibility at all.†And then establish a policy that sales associates should be required to inform the customer that any answer given may not be reliable…
It is the height of arrogance to “thank [me] for making [you] aware of [my] concerns†when in fact you have provided neither real sincerity nor true recourse to an angered customer.
Specific questions asked, specific and incorrect answers given – and Corporate out the door, ignoring it all.
Angrily,
W Gregory Stewart
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
November 27th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Hey, at least you got to talk to them. After sitting in their phone queue longer than I could stand, I sent an e-mail from their Customer Service form on their web site. It came back as undeliverable. Go figure…
December 19th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Well your not alone.I went to Best Buy in Meriden,CT
to buy a 27″ TV for a XMAS gift for my mother.When the guy bought the TV out to the car i told him there is no way that it would fit in my car he said they would be able to put it in the back seat with out any problem.Well after asking him to stop a few times he got it into the car.When we got home we had to cut the TV out of the box,And when he forced the TV into the car at the store he broke the screen We also noticed our rear seat was damaged and the door was damaged as well.So i called the store they said bring the TV back,The following day i brought the TV back i explained to the girl at the service desk what happened and she called her manager on the phone and stated i could have a exchange.I explained the TV box would not fit in my car and we brought it back to the store out of the box to fit in the car.She finally gave me my money back,When i had asked to have her our the manager come outside to look at the car i was told to Call 1-800-best-buy.Which i did as well as emailed as well as talked to thier adjuster and they still have not paid any part of the $415 it cost to fix the car.Best Buy has awful Customer Service.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I would love to tell you of our experience my wife and I add with the Big Blue Box (Best Buy). Trust me if I would have know of your Web site I would have heeded the warnings and advice of others that have had just horrible experience with Best Buy.
Well here goes:
My wife and I decided to take some of our Tax Return to buy us a new Washer, and Dryer. Well as usual we went to BB as we have done for in the last (9) years to buy all of our Big Price appliance items, as we have bought our (3) Desktop Computers, (2) Refrigerator, (1) Dishwasher, (2) TV’s (3) DVD Player’s, (2) VCR’s, (3) Surround Sound Systems…. etc…well you get the picture, close to $10,000.00 over those (9) years.
Things seem to go smoothly with the purchase of both of them till the arraigning of the FREE delivery that was with the package deal. But the sales person worked out the glitches an made the delivery on Wed’s the 14th of February in the late afternoon. I informed the sales person that we had some serious plans made, and could they arraign it before or after the 14th. “No†was the reply that it was the only day they could make the delivery. Well ok I said, “but let’s make sure it happensâ€. No problem was the reply; a they would call us the night before to confirm the time in the afternoon. “Greatâ€, I said, let’s do it.
The night of the 13th we waited till around 9pm for their call. Nothing, no call. So I called the store a talked to the sale person that sold us the Washer/Dryer, and asked when they would be delivered. I waited on hold for over 20 minutes. Finally I called back and asked for the Manager on Duty. Waited other 10 minutes till he came on the line. I explained the situation to him; he stated he would check into this. After other 10 minutes he game back on the line. He stated that the Order for delivery was CANCELLED and that there was not going to be a delivery. Well my jaw dropped to the floor. “What the Hell was going onâ€, I asked, I know we didn’t cancel the order for delivery. I informed him of this and said this was not acceptable and that they would need to make the delivery as promised and that we would not be available for any other day. And why the Hell had this had happen. After waiting for other 15 minutes on the phone he finally came back on with “ it will be delivered tomorrow between 4pm an 6pm†OK I said great. As I was about to thank him he hung up, without an apology of any kind, or any explanation of what was going on? Well this should have clued me into Best Buy’s customer service policy of SCREW’EM AN LOSES’EM. Well as promise they did deliver the machines on time, but not with out some hassles there too.
Where comes the good part:
The following week my wife an I decided to buy a new laptop computer, and of course BB was having a Package Deal on a Toshiba laptop with Windows Vista installed and also with Mini mouse, and carrying case. This sounded great, and in our price arrange too. So we went into the Store and as usual we had to hunt down someone in the computer department to help us with the purchase. After finding a fresh Snot Nose Narcissistic Kid barely out of high school to help us, we decided to ask a few questions about the New Windows Vista system. We wanted to know if this laptop would be able to communicate with the other (3) computers we have in our home running Windows XP? And would it work with our Linksys Network Router System? And will we be able to share files, and to use our Lexmark Printer with this new Windows Vista, and our Network? “ Well of course it would…was his reply, with no problems. “ Well with that, and the blind trust I put in people we bought the laptop, and the extended service plan. And back home with our new toy.
Well we got it home and started to set it up, and everything was going as smooth as silk till we tried to set up the Network to share files/folders with the other computers, and the printer. Now I am not illiterate when it comes to computers, nor am I an expert, but I knew something was a miss, and something was not right. Well it was late and we decided to wait till the morning to finish the setup.
The following day was the Worst Frkin Nightmare I have had in 35 years (showing my age of 55) of dealing with any big business, and of course the worst day I ever had with Best Buy.
I kept trying to make the Laptop communicate with the Network, and my other (3) computers. I would keep getting a Microsoft Windows Error of “not finding a Networkâ€. After spending an hour on their web site I could find nothing, so I called them. I spent over 45 minutes waiting; finally I spoke to someone about the problem (because I thought since it was a Windows Error the would be able to help) no such luck. They said I would need to contact Toshiba about this since this was an OEM (original equipment manufacture) problem, and not theirs. “Great†Called Toshiba, nothing, this were their service person informs me that the new Windows Vista program will not work with the network, router, a printer if my other (3) computers are running Windows XP. “HOLY COW POOPâ€. This was Frkin Peachy. Toshiba suggested to call Best Buy to see what they can do for me, buy asking someone there if they could help set up the network to communicate with the other computers. Sounded like sense. So I did.
So I called the Big Blue Box (BB) and spoke to same manager I had dealt with on the delivery problem. Wow that was the most stupid mistake I ever made. This manager was the biggest “DICK†I ever spoke to. I calmly explained the problem to him, an how I was led to believe that there would be no problem with this Laptop running Windows Vista to work with my computers, network, and printer. He told me point blank told me that his sales person would have “never would have told me such a thingâ€. God I was outraged, not only was He calling me a Lair but also it was quite clear that this worthless manager was not going to help me at all. I asked to speak to his Boss, (the store manager) SHE was not there. Then I asked how to get in contact with his District manager…. guess what…that’s right, he refused to give me that info also stating he did not know how, an even if he did he would not give me that info, because all customer concerns, and problems are handled at the store level, and that this problem did not warrant any further attention. What a worthless piece of human waste. I asked what was the name of his store manager, at first he was very hesent, and then he gave me her name.
Well for the next (4) days I spent calling the Best Buy customer service line, (what a gdamn joke this is), calling their Corp Office, calling their District office, trying to get someone to listen and care about my problem. Again No-one gave a Royal flying Rats Ass about what was going on. Only to inform me that all the customer relation problems needs are handle at the Store Level. “My God, don’t they understand that here in lies the problem the Store Management and the rotten little peckerhead that sold me the Laptop. “NO>>>HELL NOâ€. So after nearly going to the Hospital because on my Blood Pressure I decided to give it up. Knowing that Best Buy had SCREWED ME IN THE ASS AN NEVER USED ANY TYPE OF LUB TO EASE THE PAIN. Then out of the Blue the lousy Store Manager called an gave me the lamest apology I ever heard but still would not help me with my problem only offering to send out the GEEK Squad to make my Laptop work with my other computers, an network. But of course this would cost me other $200.00 for their service. God what kind of sick joke these folks live under, what kind of CON-Game they are playing on the costumer, what kind of people believe they would have me come back an waste my money in their store after this kind of Bull Sh___t.
God I pray, and beg anyone reading this not to buy your need’s at Best Buy, they will Lie, Cheat, an screw you up the behind so hard, that you will see stars. If any one reading this and still believes they will get good service from BB, all you will get is a Stroke.
BEST BUY GO TO HELL YOU ROTTEN MOTHERF___KERS.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:29 am
To anyone considering a computer purchase from Best Buy:
Don’t.
I am a Quality Assurance Director for an international furniture company, and I know a little about customer service. I purchased a laptop from Best Buy, only to have it start to malfunction after a few months. The original problem was fairly minor – the processor fan was slightly off balance and would whine after a while, the reduced cooling would occasionally cause the pc to lock up and not want to reboot until the chip had cooled back off. I demonstrated this to the service manager at the Geek Squad counter. I also informed him that this was my business computer and I would like to try to get any repairs expedited, as I would be leaving for several successive business trips shortly thereafter.
I have been back to the store at least ten times in the month and a half since I turned it in – I have gotten excuses after delays – but no laptop.
They told me after a month that the laptop had substained “liquid damage” and that I would have to pay an additional $700 to get my laptop repaired. I know for a fact that there was no “liquid damage”, and not suprisingly when I asked for proof of said damage, they had none to offer. When I bought this laptop, I purchased the additional warranty (which apparently covers absolutely nothing), but it seem you have to buy the standard coverage plus some kind additional coverage no one mentioned prior to this in order for them to support the electronics they sell.
I spoke to everyone in the chain of command at the store, and they offered no help, but a bucket load of excuses. When I contacted the corporate headquarters and spoke to the highest accessible individual in the customer relations department “Matt” (he woudn’t give his last name, and now I see why), this was the rudest and most unhelpful person I have ever dealt with in this capacity. If I were his boss I would fire him on the spot for representing my comapany and department so poorly.
The moral of the story is:
If you need electronics and you expect the company that sells them to support their product – don’t buy from Best Buy – you will regret it.
Sincerly,
Greg Kelly
[email protected]
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
May 2, 2007
I too would have avoided BB if I had know about the consistently lousy service. In brief, I bought a portable DVD player last week, which we charged a couple of days later and took on a trip. I assure you there was no misuse or abuse of the player, but when we used it, there were big black spots on the screen. BB was not open, and we were out of town. The receipt said 30 day return for defective goods, so I brought it in when I returned 8 days after purchase. I was told the problem was caused by abuse, and they would not exchange it. I am shocked! I talked to the service manager who was nice but would not help. The young surly clerk told me that I would have brought it back right away. I explained I was out of town, to which she replied, “There are Best Buys all over the country.” Apparently, either you are guilty if you can be construed as such, or there is some unpublicized “right away” policy instead of the 30-day policy on the receipt. Worse, the clerk did not have the capacity to see how I was being robbed in this situation. I welcome any suggestions on where to go from here. I wrote Customer Care a letter, but am not very hopeful. Feel free to email me with any ideas on how justice can be served, or how BB can be forced to improve this systematic breach of contract.
Sincerely,
Michael Greene
[email protected]
September 5th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Hi last week i take my van to fix remote starter and techician un able to do i talk to supervisor MR Doug
and Brad they promise to fix my car but today i bring my van they said we cant fix your door lock i ask supervisor and i didnt satisfied answer i ask them to remove your system they said we have to charge you labour which is not done i am your regular customer.
this is happen today at kitchener store
my name is kalpesh bhatt
phone no is 519 584 7100
pls enquire and let me know.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:25 am
Best Buy doesn’t have a stellar reputation or record. Poor customer service, poor warranty, poor stock levels, just plain poor.
Sadly though these big box stores just keep getting bigger. Best Buy and Wal-Mart are giant monsters eating up the competition and stomping on customers along the way.
I too fell victim to the Best Buy warranty scam. I was foolish, I got away without buying the warranty originally, but went back to buy it for my Rogers Cell phone after I dropped it in the parking lot. I was told that the phone was 100% covered.
One year later I went in because when I closed the phone (flip phone) the hinge broke. I brought the phone to BB and was told it could take 6-8 weeks. I explained that the phone was my home phone and I couldn’t go that long without and asked for a loaner – no dice. I took my sim card and found a replacement of the same model.
About a month later I received a message saying my phone could not be repaired because Best Buy didn’t have the part. Rogers cut their ties with Best Buys over you guessed it customer service complaints.
I went to pick up my phone and figure out the mess since I had an extended warranty. After 45 minutes of waiting, my phone was located. I was told that my phone would not be repaired or replaced and I would have to talk to the manager.
The manager came over arms crossed and ready to go. I didn’t even say a word before she accused me of intentionally breaking my phone and trying to take advantage of a policy to protect customers. I explained to her that I did not intentionally break my phone, that all I wanted was it to be fixed. She told me she spoke to the people at Best Buy who made the phone and that the damage could only be done on purpose.
I explained to her that Best Buy doesn’t build phones and she said that she talked to Rogers (which by the way did not do business with Best Buy at the time) and that it was them who had stated the damage was intentional. I explained that Rogers didn’t build phones to which she said ‘yes they do’ to which I added no Motorola does. She then said ‘you know what I mean’. As I tried to explain myself again she yelled at me to stop yelling at her. Which startled me because I had hardly been able to get a word in edgewise.
I asked her if they would replace my phone and she smiled and said no – that I wasn’t going to take advantage of Best Buy. I asked her to refund my warranty and she said Best Buy doesn’t refund warranties. At that point I did raise my voice and said let me get this straight. You sell me a phone and a service to care for the phone. Then the phone breaks, I try to collect on the service by having you FIX the damage and since you don’t have the part you can’t fix it and even though my warranty pays for replacement you won’t. She said ‘that’s right’. I asked her if it was Best Buy’s policy to lie, cheat and steal from the public and walked out. I haven’t bought anything from Best Buy since. And I won’t. I also don’t buy from Wal-Mart and if the customer service at Shoppers Drug Mart continues to follow BB & WM so long to them soon enough.
I would rather pay more for an item, get the service and if I have a problem know that I can go back for help and service and to be treated like a person, not a criminal.
DON’T BUY FROM BEST BUY!
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Best Buy will not honour their price match guarantee. The only way I got them to do so was to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Had I have researched all of the complaints against them on the internet, I would have bought my TV elsewhere. If you have an issue with Best Buy, involve your local BBB and never shop there again. I sure as hell won’t.
March 12th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I have so many storys about how best buy screwed my boyfriend and I over, all occuring in under a year…. Now I tell off the employees when I go in there for asking if I need help by simply saying you can’t help me if I know more about this stuff then you do… Trying to complain to them about a problem is like talking to the wall but I think the wall is way more helpful. I agree with the warrenty scam mention a few posts up, there warrenty is the biggest joke i have ever come across, Its a waste of money and when you need to use it they act like you don’t know what you are talking about even though in the past 6 months the computer we bought there has been in and out of the local store and there repair shop roughly 12 times and it still doesnt work like it is suppose to if anything they have made it worse. And there geek squad is the biggest joke I have ever dealt with, when I can walk in there and tell them exactly what wrong with it and they ignore what i say and wait until i have to make two of there trainees cry from me yell at them to get it done they way it was suppose to be done in the first place. The only good thing to come out of that is when i walk in there with the computer they get the manager right away because no one wants to deal with me without him standing there. The last time we were in there the guy who was helping us couldn’t even hook up the computer tower to the screen i had to show him how… Can you say pathitic. Oh yea one more thing there best buy credit card is the biggest scam ever!!!! they screw you over on there no intrest for so long. In our case we had no intrest/payment for 18 months, first they started sending us a bill every month and when we didnt pay we got hit with late payment, so much for no payments for 18 months, and with the intrest every time we wouldnt pay the intrest rate would go up, and after 11 months we got our tax return and paid them off well what we thought was paid off, two months later then sent us a bill for 500 dollars for unpaid intrest and we fileing a dispute with them over it and asked them what happened to the no intrest and no payments for 18 months and if paid off before that 18 months you wouldnt have to pay the defered interest. The responce we got was that it was just there policy to do it like that and nothing more was said. Which really irked me for the fact i made it a point to ask the sales person about the back interest and he had to ask the manager who said that if it was paid off in that 18 months the interest would not have to be paid. So we got screwed into paying them the 500 extra dollars because they sent it to collections.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Are telemarketing calls from Rogers Cellular driving you crazy? Have you asked them to stop calling yet the calls continue? Have these calls been eating away at your airtime? Are you ready to send a message to Rogers that you’ve had enough? If so, send me your name, cell number and story. We are collecting and forwarding this information to the CRTC and if enough people respond there may be a possibility of a class action lawsuit and / or credits from Rogers to compensate for the abuse of your phone number and wasting your time
Thank You
Mark
[email protected]
May 30th, 2008 at 4:39 am
interesting story, so the guy made a mistake, kill him? like you are always right, have some human feelings buddy
now as for Ric Trout
only got to ur message n then gave up on reading wut type of BS you guys are writing. Dude, you are 55? well age doesnt matter so much. look here, if they said that they will send out geeksquad to help u make the network work then there is obviously a way to make the network work, its just you who is too computer illiterate to figure it out, no offense, there is nothing wrong with that, im sure im illiterate in fields that you have knowledge in. but calling someone a liar because you do not know how to make something work is just low. Now as for the “Snot Nose Narcissistic Kid”; well guess what, if you want to call him that, then i will say this to you, he just got out of highschool and he knows far more about comoputers than you, at age of 55, how does that make you feel? sorry just kinda gets me when people call people names, i can come up with a few for you but i wont 😉
May 31st, 2008 at 2:48 am
Best Buy: Deceptive, dishonest, management hides behind corporate policy in an attempt to take no responsibility for anything their employees say. Mobius strip of BS.
I called Infocus after my 1080i IN5700 projector power supply burned up. I paid $3600 for it about 5 years ago, they told me It would cost $600 to fix and working it was only worth about $600 now. So, April 19/08 my girlfriend and I went down to Best Buy #104 to look at 1080p projectors. Best Buy is the closest store and usually the first place I go.They had an open box Sony VPL VW50 marked down very cheep, $1900. It is twice the size and weight as my old one but I asked to see a demo of what it would do and it did look much better than my old 1080i. I asked but they didn’t have the box, manual or any paper work, they did find the remote and the projector was missing a faceplate. So he dropped the price another $100 and said if not satisfied I could just bring it back, it had the same 30 day warranty as a boxed item.
I was leery because I had a problem with an open box DVD player from best buy before. That time the box had a sticker that said everything was in the box. But when I got it home it didn’t have a remote. I remember they jerked me around for 2 weeks before that was resolved.
I remember swearing to myself, to never shop there again. My memory and anger fades…
Next, I got burned by them trashing my refrigerator on delivery, The delivery man said the where house did it and they lost some paperwork telling the condition when it left the store. Yes, it had to go to the where house from the store before they could deliver it to my home? Anyway, my refrigerator had been down for 3 days, they just gave me the runaround, said I shouldn’t have accepted it, so I let it go.
So , I said about the projector, really 30 days, no questions asked? He said, yes, just like as if it was in a box, just keep your receipt!
So, I took it with me, twice the weight as my old one too. Had to go back for a special cable. I was determined to make it work but It would not tilt up far enough to hit the screen, to heavy to mount on my ceiling mount and I would have to relocate a new mount and the ceiling fan. Found there is not enough Blue ray content out for rent yet and Blue ray players for my PC are not up to par. Did a lot of research to see what it would take to get this projector to work and finally gave up. There was a lot of discussion with Infocus if my 1080i would output 1080p with Blue ray. No, but I figured I would fix the 1080i and hold off for 6 months or so when I can better utilize Blue ray before I got a new projector… I would have never spent so much time with the Sony if I wasn’t told 30 days. I sent the Infocus in to be fixed about May 7.
I took the Sony back May 15 and the return desk now told me 14 day return policy. They called the sales man that sold it to me and he said he remembered selling it to me. someone pulled him over to talk to him. I asked him to tell the return desk what he told me. He was surprised to see 14 days on the back of the receipt and looked a little worried. He said, yes but the receipt said projectors are different, only 14 days. I said I was going by what he had told me. I said, No big deal, an honest mistake just tell the manager what you told me, he got nervous, looked conflicted, said he wasn’t sure . A manager pulled him aside again and sent him back to work, said he didn’t remember. She spoke of “hear say” and “he said she said”. I said my girlfriend heard it too, offered to call her, and the salesman is not disputing it. I asked to see a higher level manager and she said she was the highest store manager there was. She refused to give me her bosses name, over and over all she would answer is “corporate” call an 800 number. She would not speak only say “corporate” so I left and called. After 2 calls and over an hour on the phone I got her bosses name and number. Yes, the store sends you to the corporate phone and they send you back to the store. I called him many times but he never returned my calls. Finally May 19, I went to the store to talk with him.
To my surprise it looked like he came out to talk with me but said he had to go out side and talk to the police. He came back in and told me he called the police on someone making threats out side he store? apparently another unhappy customer..
I told him what happened, that my girlfriend and I were told 30 days and the sales man was not disputing that. I told him the sales man learned it was 14 days when I brought it back but he seemed to be getting a selective memory as his management got involved. He told me he would talk to the sales man and get back to me by 11:00 am the next day. He did call and left a message to call him back. I spent the rest of the week calling leaving messages but no return call. So, again on May 23 I went down to talk to him.
He offered me a store credit. I said, no way will I agree to be forced to shop here in the future. I asked if he spoke to the sales man, he made some confusing double negative statement about what the sales man said. He was not willing to elaborate.
He then said the sales man didn’t remember any conversation. He offered me 2 more weeks to think about the store credit so I asked to get that offer in writing and, he refused. He was no longer willing to speak with me.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I had 2 bad experiences w/ Best Buy, first I returned an Iron that was bought for a gift and broke after the first time used it. I just wanted to get another one to replace this defective one, but they said since no service plan was purchased and it now was more then 15 days that they couldn’t replace it. The service plan in itself is a bogus, because 90% of the time it isn’t going to be covered anyway and they charge you 1/3 extra to receive this. Sears wouldn’t do this! All they have to do is give you the same new item and send back the defective one to the manufacturer.
The second one is worse. I bought an HP computer there and mistakenly let the incompetent so called “Geek Squad” install upgrades, which first I should never have bought the software or service in the first place. Well anyway when I took my computer home and hooked it up to the internet, it would connect online for a while, but then out of no where it would boot me off and I couldn’t back on the internet. I then contacted HP customer service and we reset the computer and I was able to get back online, but then the same problem would happened again and again. I did this several times, until taking back the computer 4 days back to Best Buy after I purchased it. The Geek Squad tested it and said that there were no problems with this? After spending 2 hours with the so-called managers I was finally able to get a new computer, but I was not refunded for the software upgrades. I returned this 4 days after I purchased it and they gave me a hard time even though the receipt says you have 15 days to return for a full refund. They did not believe me that this was defective, even though I had documentation from HP that we spent over 10 hours trying to resolve this problem with no avail!
One thing if you must buy a computer here by no means never ever let the Geek Squad touch your computer. Do not ever go here to fix a computer problem as well. The Geek Squad is either totally incompetent or there to sell bogus software and services, which will make your situation worse.
But in general the Customer Service does really suck at Best Buy. I think this will eventually lead to their downfall several years from now, unless they change drastically.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
We purchased a frig and 5 year extended warranty from Best Buy in 2001- it had a defect and it was replaced with an LG. We were told the extended warranty continued to the LG. The LG was a lemon and required constant service and should have been replaced under the lemon law (was serviced at least a half dozen times).
LIE #1
Best Buy serviced it for 18 months and then I was denied service stating the extended warranty did NOT cover the replacement.
I fought Best Buy and even LG for 3 years and finally filed a complaint to Consumer Affairs. I swore I would never deal with Best Buy again.
LIE #2
Best Buy responded to Consumer Affairs and stated they honored the terms of the extended warranty. I called the person at Best Buy who wrote the response letter to Consumer Affairs and gave him my phone logs of every call to Best Buy for service, and told him I was denied service less than 3 years into the original warranty. Best Buy gave me a Gift Card for the cost of the frig, but would not give me a check.
I tried to sell the Gift Card for it’s value without success. So we went to Best Buy and picked a frig and financed the balance through BB credit. It was an “Open Box”, and the french doors were not aligned properly. The salesperson told us that the offset doors was a leveling issue and would be fixed by the installers.
LIE #3
When the frig was delivered, the installers said there was nothing they could do about the mis-aligned doors.
The french doors didn’t work in our kitchen as we have a wall on the right side, preventing it from opening all the way. I researched online for replacements and we went back to Best Buy with five different models selected. Best Buy was unable to get any of them even though they carried other models by the same manufacturer. The only other model they carried was LG which we did not want after the last purchase. I asked our salesperson (Brad) if Best Buy was unable to get a frig of our choice and in light of our use of a Gift Card, how would a refund be handled? The employee told me that a “refund check” would be mailed to us within TWO DAYS of the return of the frig. Not taking any chances, I called Best Buy the next day and spoke to a different salesperson (Jose) for a “second opinion” since I didn’t trust Best Buy any longer. I described our use of a Gift Card in the purchase and asked specifically about how the refund would be given back to me. Jose told me that a “refund check” would be issued TWO DAYS after the return of the frig. I figured with two identical statements, it would be safe to purchase our frig from another vendor.
I scheduled our new frig to be delivered on July 23rd. I scheduled our Best Buy frig to be picked up on the 24th. I called Best Buy credit and informed them of the pick up and the time frame given by Best Buy for a credit.
LIE #4
Today is August 7th (2 weeks later) and no refund check and no credit issued to the credit card company. I called Best Buy and asked Brad the salesperson where is my check and credit. He said he had been real busy, there were computer issues, yada yada. He said he would get to it today and get the “Gift Card” issued.
LIE #5
I reminded him of what he told me as well as Jose. He said he didn’t know if that was possible and put me on hold, but didn’t come back on. I called back and spoke with the store manager, Mike Solomon, who said a gift card refund is “store policy” regardless of what I was told. I called Best Buy Corporate Customer Relations and spoke to Jean & Dana, who said “sorry, pay with a gift card, get a gift card back. The card doesn’t have any value so we can’t issue you a check”. Strangely, it had value when we purchased.
I filed another complaint with Consumer Affairs. I will again try to sell the Gift Card at less than face value and try to take Best Buy to court for whatever I was shorted. So now I have a bill for another frig and a Best Buy Gift Card that I will NEVER use. I’m done with Best Buy. I’m tired of their lies.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Reading this website makes me think that I should just cut my losses (only $30)and walk away from it, but it angers me so that Best Buy is allowed to do these things to consumers. I bought a washing machine from Best Buy in Los Angeles. I paid for the machine, delivery and set-up on my credit card. The salesman told me I needed a stainless steel connector for $29.99, which he added to the total cost. When the delivery guy came 2 weeks later, he set the machine up and told me I didn’t need the connector and that the salesman shouldn’t have sold it to me. He told me I should return it. I had to leave on a 2-week business trip the next day and by the time I got back to Los Angeles, it was beyond the 30-day return policy. I tried anyway thinking that it was their error and why would they screw a good customer over $30. Not only would they not make the return, I asked for the manager and he was incredibly rude. He told me “you’ve had plenty of time to return this, it’s your fault.” So I guess Best Buy’s position is I had 30 days to fix their error. How can this – and much worse I’ve read on this website – be legal?
December 30th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
12-30-08
Where shall I start? How about BEST BUY SUCKs … ROYALLY!!!
I live in suburban Chicago; where unfortunately we have a Best Buy (WORST BUY) store in almost every suburb around, which makes it difficult to ignore them, So when few weeks ago I got the Best Buy Sunday advert marketing a Compaq Presario Laptop for $399.00, I thought that would make a great Christmas gift for my 10 year old, that way he has his own and will leave mine alone, he can practice speed typing, do his homework, e-mail his grand parents, and with the right parental control settings, he can search the Web for school assignments, even download games and cheats for his WII, PSP games.
Will they didn’t have that item in stock that Sunday or any another day since! Even when the price increased to $449.00 they continued to advertise the same item, but none in stock to be had in their stores or on thier site
Then this week they had another good deal, or so I thought, this time it was for an HP G60 for $499.00, a good deal for what the Laptop offered, except this time they sent me on a wild goose chase, I drove from the Woodridge store to the Lombard store on to the Orland Park store and finally ended up at the Joliet store, and every time I’m told the item is out of stock although I made sure the previous store called ahead and talked live to someone in the Computer Dept. to make sure the Laptop is in stock and to hold one under my name.
Well let me just say that “BEST BUY PERSONEL INCLUDING STORE MANAGERS ARE A BUNCH OF MENDACIOUS AND BUNGLING FOOLS†from the folks in the Woodridge computer department to the idiots at Lombard and Orland Park stores (Brian was helpful but clueless), to Ian (Manger) and Stephanie (Computer Dept.) at the Juliet store whose Customer Service skills are severally lacking. All were oblivious to the features and specification of the goods they are selling, (which by the way is printed on the side of the manufacturer’s packaging), they had no idea what they have in stock, and as far as I’m concerned the Best Buy Computerized Inventory System can’t keep track of the fingers on one hand, which makes me speculate on how many millions is Best Buy losing in misplaced inventory?
At the end of the day I drove over 100 miles, after which I decided “I’m the bigger fool†for giving them another shot at my business, LESSON LEARNED.
The sad thing is, in this economy where fewer retailers in the field, will only encourage a sub par vendor such as Best Buy (WORST BUY) to further mistreat and take advantage of the consumer.
SO BEST BUY … EITHER CRAFT A DISCLAIMER SUCH AS “THE COMSUMER WILL BE DEALING WITH YOU AT THEIR OWN RISK, TIME AND MONEY †OR BETTER STILL DO US, THE COMSUMER, A FAVOR AND GET OUT OF THE RETAIL BUSINESS ALL TOGETHER FOR GOOD?
GQ
[email protected]
January 4th, 2009 at 10:41 am
A few mistakes on a companies part does not make them horrible. Anyone can have horrible customer service at any company. For the person up top, I think you meant Fridge not frig. There is always room for human error and if you approach a situation with attitude you’re going to receive that back. Calmly, collective, ask yourself what you want, how you can reach that together to make you satisfied. A salesperson is just like you or I, human and we have room for errors in judgment, or information (such as the game) and as much as it wholly sucks to have misinformation it does not mean the company as a whole is misrepresenting themselves or the product. If it’s too good to be true, ask further questions, “Can you double check that price on the computer for me, just in case?” It’s also about being a smart consumer. The PSP’s, or service plans in computers do not cover liquids, or if you the consumer drop them, break them, or in any way damage them. The warranty covers the failure of any parts in whole, such as the screen, keyboard, or hard drive failing through mechanical means, not human error. It’s covered in the fine print (and as a paralegal telling you this), you should always read the fine print of ANY contract. A contract can be something as simple as slip of paper you receive at the register, policy is outlined at the back of the receipt, such as “We have a 30 day policy” so if you don’t agree with that policy, don’t buy! “We don’t issue money back, only gift cards” I guess you don’t agree, so don’t buy! Because it’s now totally legal, they have waived any right to liability because it’s been issued with your receipt and you should have read it at the time of purchase. In walking out of the store, and accepting the receipt you have said “Yes, I agree to your policies in place and accept them”
Just…please watch what you agree to and you’ll avoid having horrible experiences because it’s not just the place you’re bringing your business to but how smart you are in protecting yourself.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Here’s a complain we filed regarding a Viper 160XV Remote Car starter. It doesn’t look like Best Buy will resolve this, in which case we will not shop there in future. These business practices are borderline fraudulent:
A Viper 160XV remote car starter was purchased on December 22, 2007 for $211.99 including tax with a credit card. It was installed on January 19, 2008 for additional charges of $153.67 at 2:25pm, which was paid using a credit card. $29.99 were installation charges and the rest was for parts. We returned to best buy for service on March 11, May 30, July 16, and August 6th as it either wasn’t starting with the remote, or it was not starting at all. We also went to independent auto service centers for these same problems and incurred charges on May 30 – $84.67 for diagnostics and battery replacement, July 7 – no charge replaced battery put in May 30th , and August 10 – $108.30 more diagnostics charges. The August visit we were advised by the auto dealership to remove the remote car starter as it was the cause of all the electrical issues. On September 17 my actual starter had to be replaced, which the dealer informed me was not uncommon after having defective remote car starters removed. This cost $686.93.
The technicians at best buy indicated that we could get a full refund in the form of store credit, less installation charges, if we determined the starter was at fault. When we went to the store to return the starter, we were told that there was a installation fee of $125 included in the initial price of the car starter that would not be refunded in addition to the 29.99 we had on our receipt. This fee was not listed on the receipt we used to purchase the starter on December 22nd, and therefore we don’t feel it is valid to refuse to refund it to us. They showed us receipts that they had made after our starter was put dated January 19, 2008 in which they returned the remote car starter at a purchase price of $199.99 plus tax to a gift card, then they re-rang the starter with a cost of $75 for the starter and $125 for installation at 8:54pm (over 6 hours after we paid for our installation and left the store). This is what they showed me for documentation that the charge for the installation was $125 and therefore non-refundable. These receipts were never shown to me or explained to either my husband or I at the time of purchase, the time of installation, or any of the times we came in for diagonistic problems.
January 24th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Best Buy Canada accepted an Order to ship item and has taken more than a month to ship it. They blame the Canada Post and will not give a refund until all the investigations have been done. Which can take over 2 months. In the meantime your credit card charges keep accumulating and when called they said they cant do anything and asked to refer to the terms and conditions.
Watch out in future when you buy online from best buy. Their customer service sucks and they use the size to bully you into not paying for quite sometime.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Some good stories and I have giving up on these people.
Here is my waste of email I sent to them..This was actually sent a few hours ago.
I have been buying at bestbuy for years and my last 3 visits to the store have been well below par, actually mediocre.
My first problem, I went to Bestbuy, to purchase a TV and Satellite system. I couldn’t purchase the Satellite system because there were none in stock and they wouldn’t let me order one. Therefore they told me to call back on Tuesday to see if the shipment arrived. Tuesday arrives, so I call the store to see if they had received any. The clerk had told me that they don’t sell any because it is illigal to sell them.. That’s news to me, someone should call Bell and tell them not to sell Satelittes.
I then checked the bestbuy website to see if another bestbuy had any in stock. One did so I called, and the clerk told me that last years model was on sale for $299 and they had one left. Great, so I drove an hour and 15 minutes to be disappointed once again, they couldn’t sell it to me for $299 and it was actually $599, $100 higher then the newer model.. Makes sence?
Today I get my Valued customer email. I was interested in the pre-Sale for Killzone 2 on the ps3 at 10% off IN STORE between 6pm-9pm. I go to the store and get fed more BS, “we are not allowed to do pre-sale”. WTF? What is this a mickey mouse corporation?
Hopefully you will get back to me as I have to pay full price for a game when I was supposed to get it at 10% and use my rewards zone money and online you don’t except that money.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Last night I ordered a product on Best Buy Canada’s website. It was a great deal. They canceled my order because they said it wasn’t in stock. I called and they replaced the order at the same price. Just now got off the phone with BB customer service who said the order has been canceled because they had the wrong price on it – their problem not mine. I don’t even think that’s legal. The amazing thing to me is that the company will spend millions to get me to shop there and then are willing to loose my business (over $2,000 a year over the last few years) over $160 discount that was their mistake not mine.
I will not be shopping at Best Buy or Future Shop in Canada again.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Best Buy Canada has lost all of my business. Store managers can chose to exchange unopened merchandise with receipts after 30 days. I think they should especially when their employee said it was the correct adapter for a Mac. I trustingly put it aside until the new school year when I would need it to attach a new computer to an LCD projector. When I lent it to my more Mac savvy son, he saw that it was not the correct adapter. I immediately went to the store and asked for an exchange of the unopened package with receipt. It was 84 days. No discretion is used at Newmarket BB. Axxm, Sales Manager, chooses to ‘follow the policy’ posted up high on the wall.
I am left with a $40.00 adapter that is worthless to me. I wish I had checked the internet to learn about Best Buy complaints. Their reputation is not healthy. Staples, on the other hand, is always willing to listen to the situation and try to accommodate.
Tomorrow, I will try the General Manager and let you know.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
any good and effective avenue to file complaints toward BESTbuy Canada. Their service really sucks.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
My first experience at ordering “BestBuy Exclusive” Blu-Ray movies from BestBuy.ca was great. I pre-ordered the new StarTrek movie a few weeks before release, got e-mail confirmations that the item was shipped-out on a Wednesday before the movie’s release date and I even received the package via Canada Post a full day before it’s even supposed to be on store shelves! Great! I figured I saved myself a 3 hour drive to a neighboring province (we don’t have any BBs in my province and the only one which will be built by the end of 2011 will STILL be over 2 hours away) and got great service.
That’s where the fun ended. I decided to pre-order their BB Exclusive edition of Chuck:Season 2 on Blu-Ray since I read rumors via various forums online that the 3D glasses would only be sold with versions available at BestBuy. The pre-order was done on Dec 18, so I figured at the very latest, I’d receive a shipment confirmation e-mail Dec 27 and get the product in time for its retail release date of Jan 5. Dec 27, no e-mail. Dec 30, no e-mail. Jan 3, no e-mail. I am wondering wtf is going on. Call BB Customer Service and am told they see my order in the system and confirm a copy is in-stock at the warehouse, reserved for me and will “ship out soon”. Jan 5, I log in to my accnt on bestbuy.ca and notice “Out of Stock” on my order.
I call up Customer Service again and am told they couldn’t ship my order because the warehouse ran out of stock. They had no idea when they’d be getting more stock. I complain that I was told earlier that a copy had been guaranteed for my order. They said whoever I was talking to “didn’t know what they were talking about since we would NEVER make such claims to a client… we have no way of guaranteeing stock at our warehouse”. Great. Decide to wait until Jan 8, still “out of stock”. Jan 11, bestbuy.ca showing out of stock yet “11 remaining”.
I recalled reading during boxing day sales that this meant the items WERE avail. at the warehouse and could still be ordered. I figured, great, I’ll be getting a shipment e-mail within 24 hours. 3 days later, STILL no shipment, I give up. Cancel order. Find out Amazon.ca has the glasses, place order, 2 days later, I have the item in my hands. Now THAT’S SERVICE!
Immediately decide to pre-order BB’s Exclusive MJ: This Is It blu-ray on Jan 13. This time I get an e-mail Jan 19 saying the item was shipped out. I figure, alright, I’ll get it by its release date of Jan 27. Notice the following day that bestbuy.ca is now listing the item for $26.99 instead of $32.99. I call Customer Support and am told my Gift Card balance would be refunded the difference within 24 hours.
The following night, my balance still isn’t adjusted. I decide to wait a few more days. Still no adjusted. Call them back Jan 23, they confirm their system is showing the adjustment, tell me to wait. All this time, the electronic invoice for my order on BB.ca shows the item was shipped Jan 19 but the price is still $32.99. Jan 25, I get fedup and call them back. They FINALLY update my invoice… only to show the shipment date as Jan 22 instead of Jan 19?!? WTF?!?
When I inquire about this, they “have no idea why the date would have changed”. Jan 27, still didn’t receive anything. Check my invoice and now the price is showing as $20.99 yet my gift card is still showing a charge of $32.99… WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?!? So here we are, Jan 29. I finally get a delivery notice card in the mail and will see if my order is finally in tomorrow at Canada Post outlet. I am awaiting other items and fear what I received is NOT my Best Buy order. STILL, my gift card has yet to be refunded the difference.
I’ll place another call to Customer Service tomorrow if my order still hasn’t arrived. Oh yeah, the tracking # they listed on the invoice? Doesn’t work on Canada Post, UPS, Fedex, Sameday, Purolator, DHL, etc. it’s a magical mythical tracking # that must be valid only in a land of leprechauns and unicorns. I’ll be inquiring about that as well during my call tomorrow since I’m sure I’ll end up having to call them again anyway to resolve the gift card issue.
What a gang of moronic f**kwits! Screw ordering from bestbuy.ca, I’d much rather drive the frickin 6 hour roundtrip and just pick the damn item off the store shelf instead from now on. At least I know I’ll be getting it the day it’s released for the price it’s advertised!
January 29th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
The item I got in the mail today was indeed the Blu-Ray I ordered. The tracking # on the package doesn’t match the one on my electronic invoice, no wonder I couldn’t track it. Packing slip still showing price of $32.99 charged to my gift card.
Decide to check my bb.ca accnt one last time before calling customer service. Invoice is still fubared showing $20.99, however, my gift card is FINALLY refunded the difference which was still owed to me.
A rather annoying series of inconveniences to say the least. They got everything perfect with my 1st online order, I just can’t understand why they dropped the ball for the following 2 orders I placed afterwards. Think I’ll just wait until the next time I’m at the nearest store and use my gift card in person there. Damn good thing there’s no expiry date on it.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Here is once again another coverup by Best Buy. The Best Buy system allowed a completely differnt user to register with my e-mail account for Rewards Zone. When I asked the Best Buy Customer Service person that my e-mail address was being used and unauthorized in their system by another individual, they told me they could not remove it due to privacy rules. That was they wanted to call the other individual for their authorization to remove my e-mail account from their record in the Best Buy system.
This was the most rediculous thing I had ever head. When I asked to speak with the Supervisor, a woman Pam came on and said they had to go to Corporate to have the e-mail address removed. The Best Buy system is just full of flaws and was most likely hacked by an outsider. This is BAD news for all Reward Zone customers and customers in general with Best Buy. RETURN all your goods ASAP. Do not let Best Buy Customer Service tell you they cannot fix records or they cannot connect you to anyone. This is the end of my shopping at Best Buy. The place is disgusting.
April 9th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Don’t buy a TV from Best Buy Toronto.
If you have any problem that requires a Service Call expect to wait at least a Month to get the Geek Squad to fix it.
They are always “backed up”.
I did suggest that if they are that busy,perhaps they should hire more people.
Never again!!
December 12th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
i bought my cell phone in july. it did not work. i had moved from toronto to halifax. i went into a local dartmouth store and they discovered that the optional warranty i had bought did not cover the phone.
they said it was crashing due to a software problem. They also found out i did not get a gift card at time of sale and a inquiry was started that showed the employee stole the card and used it himself.
So at time in best buy i said i see no value in a service plan at ten bucks plus tax for three years that does not replace my product not working. So i cancelled the plan on the spot only two weeks after buying it. They tried to talk me out of it but i did. Next bill a credit.
But two mths later i see they started billing again. they actually billed me for every mth since i started. I went instore they said they would look into it. nothing. I call in today to best buy and i am very sick not feeling well spend tons of time on phone guy takes all my info then transfers me he says to a billing dept.
it is answered by dynex? they say they make tv’s for best buy? i say what does that have to do with me? guy says “nothing”. he cannot transfer me back. i call again. long wait.
ask for supervisor, told nobody will speak to me, i must explain problem again, i do, he puts me on hold, six plus minutes later the muzak stops and a click as line goes dead.
call again, ask for a supervisor, girl insists on helping, says she will put me into billing, then she admits nobody likely in on a sunday, i should call back tomorrow. mean while they have charged me for 5 or 6 mths at 11.49 a mth. i want to fricking blow my top. how can you manhandle and bumble a customer so badly. ? how?
craig purchaser originally of a sony x10 experia phone
January 7th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
i am a best buy employee and it customers like u that make me laugh u stupid, ignorant, retards
January 20th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Joe – you’re a loser. Go back to your minimum wage job.
February 13th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Never return an item to best buy to be “Serviced”. I watched then flip a laptop upside onto a glass countertop…slid it around …..so they could see the serial information on the bottom. Then on the repair order under condition they wrote “minor wear”. There was “NO wear on this 60 year old woman computer because she has never been shown by Children how to use it yet. It was warrenty work….so now Sony will be billed by best buy for scratching this woman computer all to Hell…..that what you get for shopping at “best buy” …to bad they have the “WORST SERVICE”.
October 16th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Went to Sears today to buy a blackberry tablet. They were sold out but said take the flyer to BESTBUY and they will match their price.
At BESTBUY they said they couldn’t match the price at Sears because they can only match prices from stores that are not sold out. VERY unhelpful service (Scarborough Town Centre branch)
Went to Future Shop and they said; no problem we will match the Sears price and also give an extra 10% off the difference. The service at the Kennedy and Lawrence store was excellent. I will definately spend money there again but as for BESTBUY, their promise of matching prices is VERY misleading.
December 27th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Went to the FutureShop in Northland Mall today. Wanted to buy a blackberry playbook, walked in the store and saw signs up promoting this item, but wanted to check if you could use excel on this tablet. Asked one of the staff, a guy who seemed even a bit senior, Arooj. He refused to speak to me about it, he said flat out “I don’t like the playbook”. the next guy to help me was a bit better, and admitted that it was good for business purposes but not personal. but wow, this guy Arooj, and the general attitude was pretty rotten. So I went to bestbuy, in the same mall, and they were much better.
September 10th, 2012 at 12:00 am
We bought a washer, dryer and dishwasher from Best Buys about a month ago. They sent me an e-mail the following Wednesday saying they would call between 7-9 PM Friday to set up a delivery time. Then they sent me the same e-mail on Thursday and again on Friday. I waited, they never called. When I called the store on Saturday asking when they were going to deliver they said it would be between noon and 4PM that day (Saturday). I asked what happened to the call on Friday and they said that they had left a message at noon that day. The idea of this tactic is that when they tell you the time you will have no input into if you are going to be able to be there or not. It is that simple, you are either there or you don’t get it.
When they showed up to deliver and install the appliances the installer was in a bad mood and swore the entire time. During the installation they managed to crack in half the drain pan that the washing machine was sitting in, scratch the face of the dishwasher, crack the pipe from the drain to the sewer for the dishwasher connection, they did not install the venting from the dryer to the outside of the house correctly (I am afraid to use the dryer for fear it will catch the house on fire) and the dishwasher dryer cycles does not work.
We have called the store several times to complain and to get this issue resolved and they keep saying that the manager will call me back and he never has (it has been 3 weeks). They keep putting me in touch with the sales man who does not have the authority to do anything. I finally found out about a division they have called the Public Defender who I was told has the authority to do all kinds of magical things (another lie). When I called he apologized (as they all do) and then he set the wheels in motion (as he put it) to get the issue resolved. The problem is now that he is off for the next 2 days (I hope it was 2 days and not 2 weeks) and that nobody else is allowed to continue on with resolving my problem on getting a delivery time set up till he gets back on Wednesday. I can only guess that because he is off they are going to close all of the stores and offices till he gets back. He must be the only one with any authority to do anything. The entire company must be waiting on him for everything. When he does get back on Wednesday and tries to set up a delivery they will already be booked solid and the will schedule me for the end of the day. Also, they give you a 4 hour time window and expect you to be there waiting on them the entire time! We have done this for 3 weekends now and still have not had any results. I can only imagine how bad a shape Best Buys must be in when he goes on vacation!
The second mistake I made was putting this on a Best Buys charge (the first was buying it from Best Buys). You have no rights to dispute this with the credit company if it is on a Best Buy card. Normally I would just tell VISA (or whoever) that I am disputing the charge and Best Buys would not get a penny till the issue was resolved. It is not worth a 10% discount when they destroy your home. Anything that I saved and more will be spent fixing all the problems they have caused and trying to get the bad appliances they supplied replaced.
If you look at the Investors Report you will see that their number one goal is to expanding into China, not to improve customer service. This is because they have ruined their reputation in this country and are hoping that the people in China will be stupid enough to accept their policies and not question their authority.
I have no idea what I can do to resolve this issue promptly since the guy handling my case is off for the next couple of days. The store manager refuses to call anybody back at any time, they will not assign my case to somebody else to resolve and they will not get a General Manager or District Manager involved or allow me to contact them.
I am guessing they want me to pursue this as a legal matter. I can why Best Buys is having financial difficulties and will soon be following the same path as Circuit City. It is my fault for not buying the appliances at Lowes or someplace else to begin with.
September 4th, 2014 at 6:06 pm
I ordered a video card from best buy online The site said the store down the street as well as several others had it in stock and could be picked up the next day The next day came no text or email from Best Buy checked the order status and it showed it was being shipped to the store call customer service and they said that the location was out of the item and it would be 5 days before I get it I asked to speak to a supervisor and told him that online that store and 6 others in the area show in stock available for Ready for pickup today! I convinced him to check the other stores and non of them had it in stock So he was sorry either wait or cancel the order and the Corporate customer service said I can give you the tracking number but you still have to wait or cancel that,s all we can do for you GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE BEST BUY
December 22nd, 2014 at 9:25 am
I tried to send an e-mail to Best Buy and Future Shop, but they won’t let you. I’m put off by the way that Best Buy is one of these companies that always substitutes the word “Holiday” for Christmas, because they think that Christmas might offend someone. Well, it offends me when they mess with our traditions to appease some people from foreign lands that they perceive to be offended by Christmas. These so called “Politically correct” sellout Scrooges are the Grinches that stole Christmas. I seem to remember that Best buy was one of the first companies to pull this bullshit too! Future Shop didn’t used to until they got taken over by Best buy. A day that will live in infamy. Best buy/ Future Shop…you suck and I vow to not buy another product from either company in 2015 or during the CHRISTMAS SEASON!
February 13th, 2015 at 11:26 pm
My tale of woe with Best Buy
In Oct 2013. I purchased a Lenovo for $700 Not a bad sucker and felt nice and hefty. 8 months later, the hard drive failed. No problem, I took it into Best Buy who said they’d replace it. 2 days later, phone rings. The new hard drive came and was being installed and they sent a screw through the keyboard.
OK, so I went into Best buy and they said “Pick out a new one” Now I didn’t realize what had happened, but later found out. Anyway, I took my HP (Read POS) home and was dealing with it. Then 7 months laater, I broke the screen. So, back to Best Buy. I had them send it to the repair center, who came back and said “Oh, it’s too costly to fix, get a new one”
OK, so that’s when I found out that that “Replacement Plan” is nothing of the sort. They’ll DEVALUE your computer first, THEN you pay more to get the same computer. You already paid for a protection plan that wasn’t worth shit, now you pay more for the same shit you had before.
That’s when I realized that:
1.They broke my Lenovo, DEVALUED the computer and then shafted me by only giving me back $649 of the purchase price of $729.
Imagine I bump into you and knock the computer out of your hands and it’s now broken, you’d expect me to pay for a new one right? Even of it was 2 years old, right? Did they” Hell no! They screwed me over.
2.The “Replacement Plan” is nothing but BS. They won’t fix the damaged part, they demand you BUY another computer (Hey, they do make a profit right?) and so YOU paid TWICE!!
Had I had a brain then, I should have demanded they replace my computer with a brand new one. But I didn’t. I tell you this so you don’t get screwed like I did. No, I will never shop there again, I could have bought 2 Dell computers instead of the POS HP envy (Like my other POS one) and probably have been happier…
Be warned. Don’t buy the “Protection plan” they just love it when you do. If you’re going to spend some big money, go to a local computer place. Odds are, they can do you a world of good better then Best Buy could.